Stories
by chibijem
Summary: Misao remembers her past with Aoshi....


Stories

by

Chibijem

Disclaimer: Pure work of fiction, characters are not mine and no money is being made from this...

A/N: In answer to the November challenge...Hope you enjoy it.

Aoshi stared down into the endless blue depths, "Try and stay out of trouble," he told Misao as he laid his hands on her small shoulders. At her look of shocked innocence, "Try, please?"

Misao's shoulders wilted, "I'll try, but it's usually not my fault, Aoshi." She replied, looking up at him with a sly grin. At his look of consternation, "Really, it's not. Yesterday, those guys just had to go and insult us. What were we suppose to do?" She asked taking hold of one of the buttons on his trench coat.

"Maybe ignore them." Aoshi suggested. He took Misao's chin in his palm and lifted her head. "Try, for me, alright?" He asked as he laid a kiss to her brow. At her nod, he kissed the end of her pert nose and followed Himura, Sanosuke and Saito out the gates.

Misao stood there watching them until they were out of sight. She had accompanied Aoshi to Tokyo when he had gotten a request from the government for assistance in some security matters. Unfortunately the request had come from Saito and they had traveled with him from Kyoto. She heard a sigh and looked down and saw Ayame and Suzume standing next to her. "Nani?"

"He's so good looking, Misao nee-chan." Suzume said, a dreamy look in her eyes.

"Aoshi?" Misao asked turning and walking back into the Kamiya dojo.

"Oh, hai. He's so tall and his hair and his eyes..." Suzume couldn't continue.

As they all sat in the gardens, both young girls asked for a story to pass the time. "I don't know any stories." Misao begged.

"Tell us how you met Aoshi-sama."

That one request took her back. "I've known him all my life." Looking at the sisters, Misao relented. "My first memory of him was when I was younger than you two..."

_Misao was chasing a small butterfly in the gardens when she noticed a young man standing on her ojiisan's porch. She made her way to him cautiously as she had been told to do when approaching anyone. As she came abreast of him, she had to look a long way up to see his face. When the young man did not acknowledge her, she pulled on his pant leg. When he looked down at her, she gasped. His eyes reminded her of the green grass, such a pure green they were._

"_Who?" Misao asked._

"_You don't remember me, Misao-chan?" he asked as he knelt before her._

_Misao studied him and shook her head sadly. She wished she could, "Iie, gomen nasai," She replied softly._

"_It's alright. I've been gone a long time." He brushed her hair out of her eyes and started to braid it._

"_Aoshi-sama?" Misao asked, remembering a young boy who braided her hair. He nodded, not taking his eyes away from his task. She reached her arms around his broad shoulders and hugged him tightly. "I've missed you so much, Aoshi-sama."_

"I remember how tall he seemed then and how much I had missed him." Misao told the girls as they sat at her feet. "He was always braiding my hair then. So much so that he was the only one I allowed to do it."

"Were you always together?" Ayame asked.

"No," Misao thought sadly. "He left me for my safety with my adopted family."

"You're not related?" Suzume questioned.

"Not in blood, but in every other way, we are." Misao replied playing with her wedding ring.

"And now you're married to him," Suzume finished with a sigh. "It must feel so wonderful."

"Hai, it does."

"Misao, does he ever smile?" Ayame asked.

"Mmmmm, yes. Not very often, but yes, he does. There was one time..."

"_Now Misao-chan, you must be quiet when approaching your opponent." Hanya told her as they made there way around the gardens to come up behind Okina_

"_But Hanya-kun, he already knows I'm here somewhere. Isn't surprise better?" She asked as they stopped._

"_In some cases, but you must always remember to think your strategy out beforehand and also to think about what things may come up during your mission." Hanya watched as the very young shinobi surveyed the area. He had noticed Aoshi sitting on a rock in the middle of the garden watching as Okina tended to his flowers. He turned his head and watched as Misao laid a finger on her lips to silently tell Aoshi to be quiet and not give her away. Hanya pushed back the bush so Misao could creep out silently; he surveyed as Misao, stealthily as a cat, crept up behind Okina. As she bashed Okina over the head with a bokken, he stood up and was surprised as Aoshi let out a laugh and noticed the large smile transform his Okashira's face making him look years younger. The other members of the Oniwaban group came forward and congratulated Misao on her success. None touched her more than Aoshi's laughter and smile..._

"He was very proud of me that day; before that day I couldn't remember him laughing or smiling so much. I'm not sure if it was because I had done so well or if it was because Jiya had gotten his comeuppance." Misao let out a wistful breath, "That was the one of the last times we were all together."

"Gomen, Misao. We didn't mean to make you sad." Ayame came up to her and patted Misao's shoulder.

"I'm not sad, just missing some very dear friends." Misao told the young girls, pasting a smile on her face.

"What's your favorite thing about him?" Ayame asked, trying to lighten the mood.

Misao thought for a minute, "Hmmmm, there's so much about him. I think...everything." Misao said reaching down to tickle the girl. "I think it would have to be the sense of security he gives me when he's near. The sense of love and protection...it's kind of hard to explain. You'll understand when you're older."

Misao kept regaling them with stories about Aoshi for several hours. The girls had even found a supply of origami paper and Misao found herself teaching them how to make cranes. "Misao-chan, when Aoshi-sama was here the first time, he made us cranes too. He was so good at it." Ayame said as Misao helped her with a fold.

"He was the one who taught me as well. I'm not sure where he learned to make them, but I loved to watch him and then he finally sat me down and taught me."

_"Why do you have to go? You're always leaving me!" Came Misao's young voice as she followed Aoshi around his room as he packed some clothes and his swords. "It's not fair, Aoshi-sama." She finished as she plopped down on his futon._

_Aoshi turned from his packing and saw Misao's small body curled up on his futon, shoulders shaking, he could hear a soft sob escape. He made his way over to her and sat next to her, taking her into his lap. Wrapping his arms around her, he rocked her. "You know, why I have to go, Misao-chan. It's my responsibility, I've been given orders." He tried to explain. When Misao just shook her head he continued, "Kudasai, try to understand. I'll be back as soon as I complete the mission, I promise." He laid his head against her temple. _

_"Promise?" Came the small voice. "Promise you'll be careful and you'll come home soon?" She lifted her head and looked into his emerald eyes._

_"Hai, I promise." He replied as she laid her head back against his chest to listen to his heartbeat._

_"Aoshi-sama, who'll make cranes for me while you're gone?"_

_"You can do it."_

_"But I don't know how." Misao replied, tears in her voice._

"_I'll teach you," Aoshi got up and walked over to his tansu chest and pulled open a drawer. He took the paper over to his table and motioned Misao over to him. They spent the next hours making crane after crane..._

Aoshi and Kenshin stopped just out of sight and listened to Misao and Gensai's granddaughters.

"I always hated it when he left and always worried he would get hurt," Aoshi heard Misao tell the young girls. "Making cranes was a way to keep him close. They say if you make a thousand cranes and give them to someone, it will ensure health and happiness to the one who receives them." Misao finished another crane and reached for another piece of paper.

Aoshi took a breath, "Aoshi, are you all right?" Kenshin asked the tall man standing next to him.

"Hai," his voice very soft. "Hai." He looked down at Kenshin and saw the question in the violet eyes. "The first New Year's after I returned to her, I was helping with the year end cleaning and I came across box after box of paper cranes in the storage room. When I asked Okina about them, he said they were nothing but not to disturb them. Misao must have made them while I was away from her." Aoshi finished gazing across at his wife as she helped Ayame make a crane.

Kenshin reached up and laid a hand on the tall Okashira's shoulder. "Like she told Ayame and Suzume, it was her way of keeping you close, that it was." The rurouni then slipped away to tell Kaoru he had returned. Aoshi shook his head; he was still learning so much about the young woman he had known all her life. He felt a pang of guilt, knowing now just how much his leaving her with Okina had hurt her.

He stepped forward and heard Ayame tell Misao her cranes were good but not as good as his. He smiled as Misao let out a frustrated sound.

"All her practice, and she still can't make them as well as I do." He said lightly, teasing, as he sat down next to his wife. He dodged her fist and reached for a piece of paper. "I'm back," He leaned over to press a kiss to Misao's lips. She watched as he took Ayame into his lap and helped her fold a crane. She moved closer to him and laid her head against his shoulder and felt him press a kiss to the top of her head.

Later that night as they curled together in their futon, Aoshi told her he was pleased she managed to keep out of trouble for one day. "Mou, anata. You think of it as trouble and I think of it as defending." She told him, hitting him lightly on his shoulder. She laid her head back down on his chest, listening to his strongly beating heart. "Just how much trouble could I get in telling Ayame and Suzume stories. Besides they're both besotted with you." She told him, caressing his scarred chest.

"Hmmmm, remind me to tell you a story about a young girl who was also besotted with me." He teased and laughed as she sat up. He pulled her down to him and proceeded to kiss her out of her mood. "Remind me much later." He said as other matters took over...

END


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